Tbic colffpasy



May 22, 1928.

W. E. LAIRD TIME RECORDER Filed May 6, 1926 Fig.1.

Inventor: wes'Leg E. Laird,

Hi$ Attorneg.

fo'renoon and Patented May 22, 1928.

. ore-1 WESLEY Lentil), or, 'rrr'rsnrmm, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGN'OR 'tro GENERAL ELEC- rare COMPANY, A CORPORATION or New Yong;

' TIM-E RECORDER.

Application 'filejd Mayrfi invention relates to time recorders, an mo e pa icular y o m lecorders adapted for use in factories and oilices for the eccrd ng y employe o he times at w ch ey tart and op w rk ch time wsde l p e de w h Pr nt nge n sm controlledby suitable clockwork are used exte sively, eac emp oye s a y ei g Ptcvi d with a c r card c c may ser n heid r ce. a d on w chthe various t mes are tamped y the P nt ng m hauism which isoperated by theemp'loyee by meansof a handle or lever. These record cards have spaces in which the various-times areprinted; by the printing mechanism, the

spaces being arranged usually in horizontal lines or rows for the different days of the Week and in vertical lines or columns for the times. at which work is started and stopped-in the forenoon, afternoon and evening. The Working hours of different employees are often not the same and frequently even overlap and employees often start or stop 'Work either considerably before or considerably, after the regular ap pointed times. A second handle or-lfever is therefore. usually -provided by means of which an employee may so control the i'nechanism as to cause it to. print the time in the proper vertical row or column.

The-employee thus has the opportunityof selecting-eaohtimeatwill the proper column in which tov print onhis card the time at which he starts or stops work. It has been found "that this permits a dishonest employee to. use the device dishonestly and to produce a card printed so as not to indicate truthfully the times at which he actually started or stopped work. Assume, asan example, that the employee knows in the morn- -ing'that he will be expected to work until ten'oblockrin the evening. Hemay take. his card "to the recorder at ten oclock in the print'that time in the evening out-2 olumn. He may then leave work at any earlier time during the evening and receive credit for full time up to ten o:cloek. Many 'til'nerecorders automatically print a sin inner-unearths figures indicatingaftamen or evenin i use and omit this mark ufnde'r" figures im matin forenoon time, but

a uishonesmmployee may easily adtisuch =-a mark with a; "pencil or erase the mark if: it has been printed and is notldesi-red. I As aim example ofv dishonest 'us'e or: the re- 1926. serial No. iozgeeo.

cordon, suppose an employee is expected to start work at eight oclock in theforenoon. He may arrive at his work late but may know that he will work until eight oclock or later in the eyening, He may then pun poscly, fail to print his card in themorni'ng, but may take his card to the recorder at-eight oclock in the evening and print that time in the, morning in column andr'eceive credit for full morning. time from eight oclock. The general object of the invention is to PI'OYldQ a time recorder with meanswhich will restrict an employeels select-ionor control of'the spaces in which his cardis printed, but which will at the sametime permit such selection or control as is necessary because of thedifi'erent and overlapping working periods of different employees.

The invention will be better understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 shows one form of the invention applied; to SO much of the printing mechanism of a time recorder as is necessary for a clear understanding of the, inven tion;fiFigs. 2 and 3are detail views 01 a portion of thedevi'ce, and Fig. 4 shows a record card-such as. maybe used in connection with the time recorder.

Like reference characters indicate similar parts in the different figures of the drawing.

The inventionis shown in the drawin-gin a form which is particularly applicable in connection with an arrangement of-time recorder printing mechanism which is already extensively used and which comprises a type Wheel 10, a record card-holder 11 and a hammer 1-2. A record card 13,, such as is shown in Fig. 4, may be inserted in the card holder '11 with the facev of the card at the back and toward the type Wheel 10. with a suitable carbon ribbon l l between the card and type wheel. T hetype wheel is driven by suitableclockwork to keep the proper type incheating the correct time. always under the 'hammer '12 so that a stroke of the hammer will always cause the correct time to he printed on a card properlyplaced in the holderf The cardholder 11 rests loosely on a" supporting rod 15 and itsiupfper portion is I in'slidingv engagement with a guide rod 16 soth'a-t the holder may slide freely to carry any selected vertical column of a record card between the type Wheel 10] andthehammer 1 2. Therposition of the cardholder and 7 adapted to be secured over an opening in the front of a suitable casing enclosing the printing mechanism. The plate is provided with notches and indicating marks so that this adjustmentof the position of the card holder and card may be made accurately. In order that the time may be printed in the proper horizontal row or line of spaces on the record card, some suitable adjustable stop is usually provided to determine the depth to which the card may be inserted in the card holder but this feature is not shown as it forms no part of the present invention.

The mechanism so far described would permit the time to be printed in any selected column of the'record card at, any time and opportunity would thus be afforded for its dishonest use as has already been explained. In accordance with the invention, means is provided to restrict this freedom in the selection of the space in which the printing of the time will appear on the record card. A looking or stop member 19 is mounted on a supporting-rod 20 about which it may tip or rotate into various desired positions. This locking member 19 is engaged by an arm 21 of a control. member 22 supported on a rod 23. The member 22 has a second arm 24 with a pin 25,'Which rides against a cam 26, having three sections 27, 28 and 29 and being fixed to a shaft driven by clockwork to turn once in twenty-four hours. The locking member 19 has a heavy rear extension 30 which tends to tip or rotate the locking member to the rear and by pressure on the control arm 21 to hold the pin 25 against the cam 26. The cam 26, control member 22 and extension 30 of the locking member 19 thus constitute automatically controlled 'means for determining the position of the locking member. I Thecam 26 is shown in Fig. 1 ofthe drawing with its lower or inner section27 against the pin 25 so that the locking member 19 is tipped backward. In this position of the locking member 19, a stop 31 projecting therefrom is located close to the rod 15 and in the path of the base of the record card holder 11, thus locking the card holder 11 to the left of the stop and in such relation to the type wheel 10 that the time may be printed in the morning spaces but not in the evening spaces of a record card.- The section 27 of the cam is so arranged that this condition is maintained throughout at least those hours of the morning and forenoon during which the time might otherwise be printed dishonestly to give a false record in an evening space. It is thus impossible at any time during the forenoon for the time to be printed in an evening space on the record card and thus produce a falserecord. The

first one to use the recorder in the morning may, or course, find the card holder at the right 111 an afternoon or evemng position where itwaslast used on the previous day.

If so, a projecting plate 32 on the base of the card holder 11 will hold the stop 31 out of its locking position and the card holder will evening spaces on his recordcard and.

through the early part of the afternoon there will be no opportunityfor dishonest use of the recorder. Near noon, therefore, or shortly before the first employees return to start their afternoon period of work, the rotation of the cam 26 will bring its inter mediate section 23 onto the pin 25 an'dthus move the control member 22 and its'arm 21 to tip forward the locking member 19 into an intermediate position as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing. In this position of the looking member 19, its st-op 31 is just out ofthe path of the card holder 11, which istherefore free to slide on its support and maybe moved, by the handle 17 into any desired position. There is suiiicient elasticity in the arm 21 and other partsto-permit the stop 31 to beheld out of its locking position by the plate 32 without breaking or permal nently distorting any of the parts. The recorder may now be used both by employees leaving their morning period of work andby those returning to start their afternoon period, even though these periods may overlap.

At some suitabletime during the'afternoon and after all employees should have left their morning periods of work, the outer section 29 of the cam'26 reaches the pin 25 and acts through the control member 22 and its arm'21 to tip the locking member 19 into 7 its forward position as indicated in Fig. In this position of the locking member19, a

stop 33 carried thereby is brought into the path of the card holder 11 to lock it out of the morning position. The recorder isjstill free to be used to print the time in theproper spaces throughout the remainder of the afternoon and evening, but it is now-impossible to print any dishonest time in the morning space. Theback of the stop 33 is beveled so that if the card holder 11 happens to be in its morning position when the locking member 19 and its stop 33 are tipped forward, the card holder may be moved past the stop to its-afternoon or evening position. As this is done the'elasticity of the parts permits the stopu33 to yieldbutthe stopmoves forward into its locking position again as soon as the card holder has passed beyond it, the card holder then being locked out of the morning position.

The application of the invention to a time recorder does not interfere in any way with the proper use of the recorder at any time but it prevents such improper recording of time as to indicate that the record was made at a certain time when it was actually made at some other time. One form of the invention has been described in detail as applied in a particular way to a well known and commonly used type of time recorder, but various modifications ma of course be made within .the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

lVhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A time recorder including a card holder, means for printing time records in a plurality of spaces on a card in said holder. manually controlled means for moving said card holder to select the space in which. each time record is printed and automatic means for restricting the manually controlled movement of said card holder.

2. A time recorder including a card holder, means for printing time records in aplurality of spaces on a card in said holder, manually controlled means for moving said card holder to select the space in which each time record is printed, and automatic means for alternately preventing and permitting the manual movement of said card holder to certain record receiving positions.

3. A time recorder including a card holder, means for printing time records in a plurality of spaces on a card in said holder, manually controlled means for moving said card holder to select the space in which each time record is printed, and automatic means for preventing the manual movement of said card holder to certain record receiving positions only during one period of time and to other record receiving positions only during another period of time.

4. A time recorder including a card holder, means for printing time records in a plurality of spaces on a card in said holder, manually controlled means for moving said card holder to select the space in which each time record is printed, and automatic means for preventing the manual movement of said card holder to certain record receiving positions only during one period of time and to certain other record receiving positions only during another period of time, said automatic means being further arranged to release said manually controlled means to permit free movement of said card holder to any record receiving position during a third period of time.

5. A time recorder including a card holder, means controlled by clockwork for printing time records in a plurality of spaces on a card in said holder, manually controlled means for moving said card holder to select the space in which each time record is printed, and means automatically controlled by said clockwork for restricting the manually controlled movement of said card holder.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this fourth day of May 1926.

WESLEY E. LAIRD. 

